The Musical Timespace
24
Metastasis
0'00-2'54 Beginning:
A single sound emerges, growing in gliding motion, first upwards,
then downwards, dividing itself into a high and a low stream, and
expanding to a vibrating space filled with sound.2'55-8'03 Middle Section:
A polyphony of melodic fragments unfolds (2'55-4'02), changing to a
polyphony of points, sound masses and lines of different timbres and
intensities (4'03-7'55), ending in a brief gliding movement (7'55-8'03).8'06-8'55 Final section:
Gliding sound emerges in the high and low registers, moving towards
the middle register, and finally meeting in one sound.In the middle section, Xenakis employs a fragmentary serial technique,
from which he shortly thereafter dissociated himself. The most important
musical innovations of this work are found in the first and last sections.
This is an outline of the musical events and processes in the beginning of
Metastasis:
Metastasis, beginning
0'00-l'32:
An initial tone appears; continuous gliding movement in strings, inter-
spersed with attacks of wooden percussion, spreads out fan-like
upwards and downwards, reaching a climax in a mass of sound, con-
sisting of a high and a low part (1'00-1'19), during which percussion
and plucked string attacks are heard. At 1'20 the sound masses are set
in intensified vibration by tremolo; sudden breakoff at 1'32.1'32-2'26:
Tinkling metal percussion breaks the brief silence, 1'37 followed by
sheets of string tremolo, changing suddenly in loudness several times.
1'42 Deep trombones emerge, salient when the strings are soft,
gradually intensifying their sound in sliding movement. 2'02 Loud
trumpets enter, playing noisy flutter-tongue tones, 2'09 followed by
penetrating sounds of horns. After a climax of noise 2'10-2'18, the
brass instruments disappear, leaving the strings.2'26-T54:
Transparent string sound glides up to a high flageolet register and
down to a low register; in the middle register a tone is sustained.